Read Praise of Folly Penguin Classics by Desiderius Erasmus 19940301 Desiderius Erasmus Books
Read Praise of Folly Penguin Classics by Desiderius Erasmus 19940301 Desiderius Erasmus Books
Download As PDF : Praise of Folly Penguin Classics by Desiderius Erasmus 19940301 Desiderius Erasmus Books
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Read Praise of Folly Penguin Classics by Desiderius Erasmus 19940301 Desiderius Erasmus Books
"Bottom Line: This review is of the Kindle edition of Erasmus’s In Praise of folly. Mine has a very good intro written by Jean Asta and no additional footnotes or commentary. My opinions aside, Praise of Folly is an important book in Western Civilization. It is worthy of your time on its own merit. The style of the period tends to weigh the humor down and a lack of internal division can make it a difficult read.
Unless you come to this book as a student of Western Literature or a related educated background having some context before you begin In Praise of Folly is critical. This is fairly well provided in the Introduction. From small things like; the original Latin title can be read as a playful pun directed at England’s Sir Thomas Moore. The two had become friends while Erasmus was visiting him in England and the book was begun if not entirely written under Moore’s roof. The historic context is that Erasmus was also in close contact with Martin Luther. Much of what Erasmus prints in In Praise of Folly is at the expense of some contemporary Roman Catholic practice. Luther had an expectation that its author would follow him into the Protestant schism. Luther would not take it well when Erasmus chose to remaina Catholic. Indeed he had been a monk and am ordained priest. He lived as a scholar, thinker and writer. He is best known as a central figure in the creation of the Humanist Philosophy.
In Praise of Folly is written in the form of a speech given by the Goddess of Folly making her claim of the primacy of Folly in human affairs. Her argument is intentionally faulty and occasionally contradictory but this is all part of the satire. Typical of Folly’s argument is an early one wherein she states that all humans are born in an act of folly. This is a favorite passage of mine, if only because it is early in the book. By the end of the book, about 85 pages, intro included, Folly has touched upon every phase of human life and made some pointed jests some of the extremes and apparent contradictions in religious practice.
It is said that humor does not travel well across time. There are parts to this short book that left me smiling. I cannot claim to have understood many references. There is near the end an appeal to a very aesthetics religious outlook even at the expense of what we now call the sciences. Does Folly/Erasmus intend this to be taken literally or sardonically? Annotation and or footnoting would be a major help in addressing that which is obscured by history or requiring additional context.
By the end of Folly, I felt as though I had been reading a run on sentence. There are distinct parts built into the flow of Folly’s speech. These could have been sectioned off, if only by skipping a few lines between them. The author may not have them in the original. Either way, the cascade of words with no breaks and the heavy, wordy style of the day made this a less pleasant read than it was intended. The right scholars may be able to read this and savor every joke and twist. For the rest a few explanations would help. These are not the fault of the Erasmus, but a recommendation that a better edition might include this additional help."
